Companies choose to work with recruiting firms for a variety of reasons. It could be that they have been spinning their wheels on a search for months with no results, it could be to help save time, access to passive candidates in a niche market, or even for confidentiality purposes in hiring. Whichever the reason may be, once a hiring manager decides it’s time to look into outside resources, it is essential to make sure the right firm is chosen.
Define the needs
To decide what type of outside help to seek, you need to decide what is the most important criteria needed for the role. Think about what would be needed from this outside firm and what type of details would be important in finding the right candidate. Does the candidate need to be local or is it unlike to find a candidate that is in the area? Is this a common skill set or is it more technical or unique in nature? Does this search need to be confidential? What level is this role going to be; individual contributor, leadership, or executive? Is this an industry-specific role? Defining the criteria will help decide which firm will be most equipped to take on the search.
Get the details
Ask questions before choosing a recruiting firm. If you need a candidate that has specific industry experience, it would make sense to partner with a niche firm that specializes in the industry, such as animal health recruiters or specialty chemical recruiters. The benefit of using a niche firm for industry-specific roles is the network that they have built out in the industry. Ask about their database; how many people from within the industry are in it. Break it down further and ask about how many roles they have worked on in the industry with similar functions or even locations. For example, this could look like asking, “how many process engineering roles have you worked on in specialty chemicals in the Southeast?” Statistics are a great way to see a firm’s success. Ask for testimonials from past or current clients. Dive into what their process is going to be from starting to search for candidates, interviewing them, presenting the qualified ones, and up until the candidate has signed the offer and met their start date. Tailor your questions to what would be needed to see success in meeting the criteria set for this role and don’t be afraid to ask for proof of success. Continue communication until you are familiar with the firm and comfortable with choosing them and the recruiters have a good understanding of the role needing to be filled.
Not every recruiting firm is going to be right for every hiring need. Interview the firm to discover how their process works, their fee structure, their success rate, and if they have a niche network built out. A deeper dive into who they are, how they work, and what they are successful at will help give you an idea if they will be the right talent partner for your team.
Are you looking for top talent in the Specialty Chemical, Plastics, or Animal Health industry?
Contact us to discuss how we can bring top leadership talent to your team. Boaz Partners is a premier executive search firm focused on the direct recruitment of executives and professionals for the specialty chemicals and plastics space. We are your partner, and our focus is on custom recruiting solutions.